Count on Me

Chapter Thirty-One: The Wedding Dress

"I am not wearing that," Katrina stated eyeing the wedding dress that her mother and aunt had set out before her, it wasn't even close to what she had in mind and it would make her look like she was fat.

It was worrying that she was only a month away from marrying Mesut and Katrina still hadn't gotten her wedding dress; she had been advised to wait for as long as possible since she was pregnant.

Katrina's waist-line seemed to grow every day as she moved further through her pregnancy, she was eighteen weeks now and she had a lovely bump that Mesut liked to touch.

"Katrina," Aunt Voula scolded wondering what was wrong with the dress that they were holding, it was the same dress that Maria and Toula had gotten married in.

It was Maria's wish to pass on the dress to her daughters, she had gotten that wish with Toula now it was Katrina's turn to wear the wedding dress.

Maria stared at her daughter, she could see how unimpressed Katrina was with the dress and she wondered what she was thinking; Toula had also pulled a face when she had seen the dress but she had still worn it.

"No, I will look huge," Katrina said shaking her head, she wasn't going to wear the dress and there was nothing that anyone could do to make her.

The last thing that she wanted was too look huge on her wedding day, she could imagine what people would say when they saw her wedding pictures.

Maria and Aunt Voula stared at Katrina, they weren't sure what Katrina would have in mind for her wedding dress; this was one of the last thing that needed to be sorted out before Katrina married Mesut.

Everything else seemed to fall into place and the family were all counting down the days until Katrina got married; they had all done their best to make sure they would be there for her big day.

***

"I don't know what you want," Maria said throwing her hands up in the air and walking away from Katrina, she was a little unhappy that they had ended up in the bridal shop; she had hoped that with a little thought that she would change her mind.

Katrina had disliked every dress that she had been shown so far by her mother and aunt, both had tried to find something that she would get a good use out of.

"Relax Ma... we will find something," Athena reassured her mother sensing that an argument was brewing, she was sure that they would find something that Katrina liked soon.

They hadn't been at the bridal shop that long and Maria and Aunt Voula were only focusing on the dresses that they seemed to like; all were a little too frumpy for Katrina's taste.

Maria didn't reply as she moved to sit down next to Voula on the couch while Katrina continued to look at some dresses with Toula, Athena and Nikki.

The three women had all insisted on the trip when they had walked in on the argument that was taking place in the house over the dress that Katrina was refusing to where.

Katrina wasn't entirely sure what sort of dress she wanted, she was hopeful that she wouldn't put on much weight between now and the wedding in a month's time.

Pulling out a dress, Katrina paused for a moment as she touched the soft material that would stretch with her if she did put on more weight than expected.

"You should try it on," Athena insisted spotting the look on Katrina's face before she ushered Katrina towards the back of the store without giving her younger sister than chance to protest or let anyone else see the dress.

Athena wanted her youngest sister to be happy, she could only imagine how hard this was for her and things were already being strained a little with their parents trying to help pay for the wedding.

Mesut had pretty much paid for everything when it came to his wedding to Katrina and it had left Kostas and Maria feeling a little bad about the fact that they weren't paying for the wedding.

Their father and mother had insisted on paying for part of both Athena and Toula's big days, it had made them proud to throw such big parties for their eldest daughters and they had expected to pay for Katrina's as well when the time had come.

Moving back towards the waiting area, Athena sipped on the free champagne that had been offered and sat down; she was sure that this would work out when they had everything sorted.

They didn't have to wait long before Katrina walked out of the changing room, a silence seemed to fall over the women as they took in how beautiful Katrina looked in the wedding dress.

Katrina couldn't help but run her fingers down it, she liked the way that it seemed to hug her bump and the material felt amazing against her skin.

The style was something that she could have dreamt of and she felt comfortable in it, something that Katrina doubted would have happened if she had tried on her mother's dress.

"Buy it," said a voice making all of them turn around to look at Kostas, they hadn't even known the man was there and he was staring at Katrina with tears in his eyes.

He might not have been able to pay for her wedding without Mesut giving him the money back but he was going to make sure that his daughter had the dress that she desired for her wedding.

"Dad..." Katrina whispered shaking her head, the dress was far too expensive and she was sure that his money would be spent better elsewhere.

Maria opened her mouth to protest, she didn't know how much the dress cost and she could guess that it was more than they could afford; it looked pretty expensive.

"You look beautiful," Kostas insisted, he wasn't going to take no for an answer and he was sure that Mesut would be amazed when he saw her walking down the aisle in that dress.

***

"I got my wedding dress today," Katrina said speaking to Mesut on the phone, he was away in France for the Euros and she missed him; it was strange not having him around and she hoped that he would be home soon.

Capone and Balboa were being wonderful company while Mesut was away, however it wasn't the same as Mesut being here with her; the house seemed quiet without him around.

Germany seemed to be doing well in the tournament and Katrina was sure that they would make it far; she was nailing down the last details for their wedding while he was gone.

"No you can't see it," Katrina laughed with a shake of her head, she was sure that it would be safe and Mesut would be pleasantly surprised when he saw what she had picked.

The days were slowly counting down to their wedding and Katrina could only imagine how crazy the real lead up to the wedding was going to be.

"It's hidden at my parents' house," Katrina said leaning back on the couch, she brushed her fingers gently against her bump as she thought about everything that had happened.

It was strange to think that she would be Mrs Katrina Özil soon and it would take some time to get used to; she had even started to practice what her new signature would look like.